Prune And Armagnac Tart Food

PRUNES IN ARMAGNAC

Steps:

• Place 3 cups of water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, add the tea bags, and steep for 5 minutes. Discard the tea bags, add the prunes and honey, turn the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 3 minutes to plump the prunes.
• Pour the prunes and all the liquid into a medium bowl and stir in the Armagnac, vanilla, orange juice, vanilla bean, and cinnamon sticks. With a vegetable peeler, cut 4 large strips of zest from 1 lemon and add to the mixture. Cut the lemon in half, cut 4 (1/2-inch-thick) slices, and add to the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for 6 to 12 hours. (If you're not serving the prunes that day, refrigerate them in their liquid.)
• To serve, place the prunes in shallow dessert bowls and serve cold, at room temperature, or slightly warmed, spooning the macerating liquid over them. Add a scoop of ice cream, a drizzle of Armagnac, a drizzle of honey, and a sprinkling of grated lemon zest. (You'll be surprised how much flavor this adds!) Serve immediately.

PRUNE ARMAGNAC CLAFOUTI

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 10-by-1 1/2-inch round baking dish with the butter and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar.
• In a small bowl, combine the prunes with 2 tablespoons of Armagnac and microwave on high for 1 minute. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and 1/3 cup granulated sugar on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light and thick. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Combine the cream, vanilla, lemon zest, and 1 tablespoon Armagnac in a glass measuring cup. On low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the batter and then add the liquid ingredients, mixing well. Set aside for 10 minutes
• Distribute the prunes in the prepared pan and carefully pour on the batter. Sprinkle evenly with 1 teaspoon granulated sugar. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, and serve warm.

TOURTIERE (APPLE, PRUNE AND ARMAGNAC TART)

Steps:

• To prepare the tourtiere you will need a large, round, shallow baking pan; a 16-inch paella pan is perfect.
• Peel the apples, quarter them and slice very thin. In a mediumsize saucepan combine the apples, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water and cook over medium-high heat until quite dry, or for about 20 minutes. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, combine the prunes and Armagnac and allow them to marinate while the apples cook.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Dampen a large cloth towel and drape it over the phyllo dough to prevent it from drying out.
• Drain the prunes and combine them with the cooked apples. Reserve the Armagnac or rum.
• Using a pastry brush, lightly oil the bottom and sides of the baking pan.
• Place the tourtiere in the oven and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, then reduce the oven temperature to 300 and cook an additional hour. Dust with powdered sugar. Serve either hot, at room temperature or gently reheated, cutting into pie-shaped wedges.
• Spoon the apple-and-prune mixture in a single layer on top of the fourth sheet of dough, covering the bottom and sides of the pastry. Be sure to keep the unused phyllo dough covered as you continue to work.
• Continue with the rest of the phyllo dough, layering sheet by sheet, covering each sheet with a sprinkling of sugar and a sprinkling of Armagnac, until you have used all the sugar, Armagnac and dough. Use about 10 sheets, or layers, in all.
• Trim off any overlapping pastry from the edges so they are even and sprinkle the trimmings on top of the last layer of pastry.
• Center one sheet of phyllo dough in the baking pan and sprinkle generously with sugar and Armagnac. Do this three more times until you have four sheets of phyllo.